The Carver by Jacob Devlin
Title: The Carver
Author: Jacob Devlin
Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairy Tale Adaptation
Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars
Available: Amazon
About the Book
The past is in his carvings; the future’s in his hands.
Fifteen-year-old Enzo DiLegno never would have believed his father’s carvings were anything more than “stupid toys.” All he knows is a boring life in an ordinary Virginia suburb, from which his mother and his best friend have been missing for years. When his father disappears next, all Enzo has left is his goofy neighbor, Pietro, who believes he’s really Peter Pan and that Enzo is the son of Pinocchio. What’s more: Pietro insists that they can find their loved ones by looking to the strange collection of wooden figurines Enzo’s father left behind.
With Pietro’s help, Enzo sets off on an adventure to unite the real life counterparts to his figurines. It’s enough of a shock that they’re actually real, but the night he meets the Girl in the Red Hood, dark truths burst from the past. Suddenly, Enzo is tangled in a nightmare where magic mirrors and evil queens rule, and where everyone he loves is running out of time.
Review
The Carver is a young adult fantasy novel and modern fairy tale adaptation and is the first book in the Order of the Bell trilogy. The story follows Enzo DiLegno, a troubled teenage boy whose mother disappeared years ago. When his father, Pino, is kidnapped as well, Enzo must team up with his neighbor Pietro, whose wife and son have also gone missing. Together, along with a girl named Rosana, they embark on a search for their missing loved ones with only Pino’s carved figurines as clues. Along the way, they encounter a variety of bizarre characters, both friend and foe, as they try to unravel the mystery of the disappearances and of themselves.
The Carver is an engaging tale filled with fun moments and fantastic peril. Enzo starts off as an angry young man, troubled by his mother’s disappearance. Enzo’s journey is one of self discovery. He refuses to believe Pietro’s assertions of their true identities and Enzo is slow to come around to the idea. Pietro is a kid-at-heart, trying to lighten Enzo’s mood while also searching for his wife and son. All the characters who appear in the story possess distinct personalities and even those of fantastic origin have a unique twist to their stories.
Overall, The Carver is an excellent story and quite entertaining. It presents a unique, modern twist to many fairy tales and classic stories. Fans of fantasy and fairy tale adaptations will be sure to enjoy this book and will certainly be looking forward to reading the next two installments.
About the Author
When Jacob Devlin was four years old, he would lounge around in Batman pajamas and make semi-autobiographical picture books about an adventurous python named Jake the Snake. Eventually, he traded his favorite blue crayon for a black pen, and he never put it down. When not reading or writing, Jacob loves geeking out at comic book conventions and blasting Italian pop rock music in his car. He does most of these things in southern Arizona.
